Brothers and Sisters, I walked into the Capitol this morning getting ready for another session with the Idaho Legislature. Like years past, my goal and that of our Legislative Team is to make sure our Collective Bargaining and PERSI remain untouched. We have built some solid relationships over the past few years and I remain confident that those two items will not be an issue this session. With that being said, we will daily watch to make sure an attempt to strip our Collective Bargaining or weaken our pensions does not get heard. For the last decade we continue to fight for our Cancer Bill otherwise known as Presumptive Illness. I can report to you all, that today the Attorney Generals Office ruled that it is unconstitutional to make firefighters pay our own work comp. That came from a proposal by Chairman Hartgen to allow our Cancer Bill if we paid for it. Since receiving his proposal the Legislative Team and PFFI Eboard would never agree to those terms! This is a nice victory for the PFFI. We never had a doubt that this was unconstitutional, but now it is confirmed by the Attorney General. Myself and members of the Legislative Team will start meeting tomorrow with our sponsors on how to proceed with this recent ruling. This information is still pretty sensitive until we meet with Chairman Hartgen, but important for you all to know that we are not waiting for them to come to us, but we are moving fast and hard to get this bill traction. Over the weekend myself, members of the Eboard and Legislative Team met with more than 40 legislators that all support this bill and want it done this year. With all that being said, I am putting out an early request to each of you Local Leaders to make sure we have a strong showing at the Capitol February 22nd at noon. I am asking everyone coming to Convention this year to bring your helmet to convention and wear it proud when we hit the Capitol for our annual "Day on the Hill". We want every legislator to know that our organization is strong in numbers and united as one! We as an organization need to stop taking NO as an answer! The word at the Capitol is that this session is going to be done in 65 days. With that, elections in May will be coming up fast. The Eboard and Legislative Team have identified multiple races around the state that we will be active in, but the most concerning is in District 4. Last years Legislator of the Year and one of the PFFI's greatest allies Luke Malek is under attack. Luke has worked countless hours helping us with our Cancer Bill and understands the importance of our pensions and collective bargaining. At convention, we will outline a plan to assist him with a victory and the day after session ends we will start helping a true friend of the firefighters. I personally plan on making multiple trips north to show my support for Representative Malek. Lastly, the PFFI is proud to set up a display at this years "Union Day" at the Capitol. We will be standing side by side in solidarity with Union members from around the State. It is way past the time to hide from the fact that we are Union members. As we watch the Supreme Court in California today possibly weaken our Unions we more than ever need to stand united. My favorite quote from John Kretzschmar, "We all do better, when we all do better" I hope this email finds you all in good health and I look forward to seeing you at convention in February. If you have any questions please feel free to call or email. Fraternally, Rob Shoplock Executive Vice President PFFI 208-573-4706